Rape accused should not be fielded in polls: Mayawati

Lucknow: BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday said that her party agrees with the view that those accused of rape should not be fielded by political parties in elections.

"BSP agrees with the view 101 per cent that rape accused should not be fielded as candidates in the elections and not be given importance," Ms Mayawati told newpersons.

The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh also approved of Union Minister Shashi Tharoor's suggestion that the revised anti-rape law be named after Delhi gang-rape victim.

"If the family of the victim has given its approval to the name being made public and law being named after the rape victim I have no objections to it... the Central government should convene an all-party meeting and take a decision in consensus with everyone," she said in response to a question.

She termed as unfortunate that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has remained silent over different rape incidents in the state while extending help to victims of cases of rape in other states.

BSP president said that though Delhi gang-rape incident has created awareness, there has not been much change in the attitude of governments.

"The Delhi case has awakened the people of the country, but the attitude of Central and the state governments has still not changed," she said, adding that if change had taken place then there would not have been other rape cases after the gang-rape of the 23-year-old paramedical student.

The central government should take an initiative and make arrangements for immediate hearing in rape cases, she said.

Mayawati said that it was unfortunate that those sitting on top positions were merely criticising and expressing sorrow over such incidents and "not taking any concrete step in this direction would also be a crime".

She suggested that family and society should initiate ways and means to impart good values besides advertisement and film industry should also be responsible regarding their content as an effort to check occurrence over such incidents.

Calls direct cash transfer scheme, a sham

The BSP chief Mayawati also lashed out at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's direct cash transfer scheme here, describing it as a ploy to hoodwink voters in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

"This is an old book with a new cover," the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo told reporters, pointing that scholarships for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the state initiated under her chief ministership was already in place where financial aid was transferred straight to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

Accusing the Congress of yet again trying to "fool the voters," she said people should not be swayed by false promises of the Congress.

"This is an 'adh kacchi' (half-baked) scheme cooked up by the dhokebaaz (fraud) Congress and I warn the people of the country not to fall to the allurements," she said.

'Aapka paisa, aapke haath', the credo coined by the UPA government was nothing but a "sham and a political stunt aimed at fooling the electorate," she alleged.

Her remarks came a day after the central government began the New Year by rolling out the ambitious direct cash transfer of benefits covering seven welfare schemes in 20 districts across the country.

Mayawati asked the people to keep the Congress away from power as it has never worked for the people, Dalits and minorities.

The former chief minister condemned the Dec 16 Delhi gang-rape and called for evolving a political consensus for tougher laws to check crime against women. The victim died of her injuries Dec 29 in a Singapore hospital.

On the issue of demands of resignation of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav due to apex court directive to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe graft charges against him, she said the answer should come from the Samajwadi Party.

On the growing chorus of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi being a potential prime ministerial candidate, Mayawati said BSP would do everything possible to prevent it.